


14 Life Altering

by Merrianna, SpeedBurn (samwise_baggins)



Series: Speed Burn [5]
Category: CSI: NY
Genre: Angst, Crime Scenes, Drama, F/M, Family Secrets, Gang Rape, Gang Violence, Graphic Description, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-02
Updated: 2020-09-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:14:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26257738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merrianna/pseuds/Merrianna, https://archiveofourown.org/users/samwise_baggins/pseuds/SpeedBurn
Summary: When Stella's date turns into a sexual assault, how will the rest of the team take it?
Series: Speed Burn [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/525127
Kudos: 2





	1. Prologue: Dark Alleys

**Author's Note:**

> Series: Speed Burn
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't in any way own the series CSI. Those are the sole property of Anthony E. Zuiker, Jerry Bruckheimer, CBS and Paramount Home Entertainment.

xxx

Stella swore in Greek as she limped her way to the nearest subway entrance, the heel of one shoe broken. After making sure Mac had been ready for his first date since Claire had died, Stella had gone off to her own date. It had been a disaster; she had hoped to have a good meal with pleasant conversation and maybe a little dancing if things went well. Instead it became an evening of leering eyes, groping hands, and talking about the wrongs of society. She had cut the evening short, vowing it was the last time she went out with a lawyer. When Stella had extracted herself from the situation, she decided to take a walk, wanting to get rid of the excess hostility that circumstances had created. A block away from the restaurant, she had snapped off the heel of her right shoe on a crack in the sidewalk that she hadn't seen; the force almost made her tumble onto the pavement.

So as she limped her way along, Stella hoped that Mac had had a better time with his date then she'd had with hers. The brunette was so distracted that she didn't realize until too late that she had stumbled into one of the darker sections of the street. Stella barely comprehended that she had passed three young men who had cat-called after her when she walked by.

She would've warned most females about that kind of mistake their first time in any big city. A fourth male came out of nowhere, unexpectedly hitting her over the head. She fell to the ground like a stone in a pond. She didn't feel anything as they pulled her into a dark alleyway.

Stella came to, in a daze and with a heavy feeling on her limbs. Then other sensations made themselves known: a wrenching pain came from the back of her head and between her thighs. Young male voices drifted to her ears.

"Hurry up, man! I want my turn!" The eager whisper from the right seemed to echo in her head.

"She's a skinny little bitch," a rough voice rasped after the first and seemed to be coming from her left.

"Hey... What’s this? Shit man; she's a cop!” A teen male's high-pitched voice came as if far away.

"Don't be such a pussy. Just means we have extra points is all." This voice came from right above her and sounded ragged with effort.

She screamed, struggling to get away. One of the individuals covered her mouth with his hand; without thinking she bit down hard, blood oozing into her mouth. The hand jerked out of her mouth, dripping blood on her face.

"Fuck! Hold her down!" Stella almost lost consciousness again as another fist hit her across the face; still she fought back. Her body ached. It didn't seem to matter; Stella eventually got one arm out of the hold and scratched the man opposite, digging deep furrows into flesh.

"Ah, shit! She scratched me!" came an annoyed whine from the left.

Stella received another vicious hit to the face and all her remaining strength slipped away. She drifted on waves of pain, praying that it would be over soon and that they didn't kill her in the end. One other thought came to her right before she passed out once more, _'Mac... Connor...'_

Continued in Chapter One: The Scene


	2. Chapter One: The Scene

Don Flack hadn't been the first on the scene, but when the call of _'officer down'_ had gone out, he arrived almost immediately. A small crowd of people stood gawking.

Don grabbed the first cop at the scene. The first uniformed man he'd talked to had told him that he wouldn't want to see the crime scene. The man appeared pale and wouldn't look Don in the eye. "Besides, it's not a homicide," was all the older man would say.

The ambulance waited there and looking around the paramedics, he could make out the form of a woman, but the mass of curly hair struck him hard. It reminded him of Stella. As they put the woman on the stretcher, Don had an instant of recognition. It was Stella; the blue-eyed man forced his way over to the medical team as they began to put her into the emergency vehicle.

Briefly thankful that he hadn't seen where the actual assault had happened, what he saw of his friend made him want to vomit. It was a reaction he hadn't felt since he had been a rookie. He forced the reaction away and propelled himself into the vehicle before it could take off. The medics had almost pushed him back out until he pulled rank. He promised to stay out of the way. Don did as he told them he would, not once getting in their space; he just watched. The blue-eyed man had enough wit about him to send a text message to Mac. Don knew that the head of the forensic lab would be one of the few people the green-eyed Greek would want at the hospital when she awoke.

In Don's estimation the ride to the hospital took forever. Whoever had shot her either had lousy aim or had thought to make her slowly bleed to death. Those wounds would have been horrible as it was, but through experience the detective could tell that they were the least of her injuries. She had blood everywhere: across her face, down her shoulder and arm, over her chest, and down her torso; what sickened Don the most was that what clothing she had left couldn't hide the fact that she had been sexually assaulted... brutally so.

xxx

Mac supposed this was how a first date went after not being on one for so long. It felt kind of unnatural or like going on your first recon and ending up in the middle of a minefield: one misstep and the whole thing would blow up in your face.

The dark-haired detective felt unsure if it relieved him or not when his cell phone vibrated against his leg. Shifting, he took out his cell phone and looked at the message on the screen. What he read made his heart stop for a minute before it started again, pounding hard as if he'd been chasing a suspect.

"Excuse me. I've got to go," Mac stood up; in his rush to leave, he left a very confused Rose. He had enough thought to pay for the dinner before leaving the restaurant. Outside he quickly hailed the first taxi he could. The car had barely stopped when he slid into the back seat.

"Where to, Mister?" A heavy New York accent drifted back to its new occupant.

"Roosevelt Hospital," Mac snapped out, wanting the vehicle to get moving. His text message from Don Flack had been short and to the point: 'Stella shot. Roosevelt hosp. Meet there.’ The detective didn't panic easily but his anxiety radiated through the typed words. Thankful that the young officer already made his way to the hospital; Mac hoped Don _accompanied_ Stella.

xxx

A haggard looking brown-haired detective walked over to the two forensic investigators as they approached the yellow crime tape. "I'm Detective Jessica Angell with the Violent Crimes Unit. The victim has already been taken to the hospital."

Danny held up the yellow tape for Aiden as they ventured onto the crime scene. "It came across as an officer down?"

"Yeah, the first beat cop on scene barely recognized the woman... as Detective Bonasera." Angell's doe-eyes nervously took in the two detectives as she hesitated over the name. She didn't stop walking, letting them either stay with her or catch up.

Aiden stopped, looking after her cousin Jessica, "Did you just say the victim was Detective Stella Bonasera?" The sultry-eyed woman waited to hear that her ears had been faulty rather than acknowledge that she had heard correctly.

Danny's face went through a myriad of different emotions before settling on pissed.

"You heard correctly. Our victim is Detective Bonasera of the NYPD Crime Lab. She was discovered at Nine Forty-five by Jennifer Trenet and Miles Sumner from Old Orchard, Maine... they're here on vacation. She was taken, twenty minutes ago, to Roosevelt Hospital." The brown-eyed woman steered the conversation back onto business, trying to project professionalism so that the two others would take the case in as objectively as they possibly could under the circumstances, though her heart went out to her cousin Aiden.

xxx

Aiden's face hardened as she once again moved forward. "Danny, why don't you take the alley; I'll go with Jess to interview the witnesses. Then I'll head to the hospital to process... Stella." Aiden would not call Stella Bonasera a victim... even if it was the truth.

She couldn't say they were the best of friends, but Aiden did look up to the woman. Stella had always been a strong, forceful person who had held her own in a still largely male-dominated profession. Everyone respected her, and she didn't back down from a fight whether with a suspect or their boss. Not to say she wasn't compassionate; she had a heart as big as the city of New York.

Aiden's eyes briefly trailed after her blond partner; he and Stella were very close. Danny would have trouble with the scene, but she didn't want him having to go through with processing at the hospital. She jerked her eyes away from him, _not_ wanting to deal with the emotions just below the surface as she approached the couple huddled together.

xxx

Danny didn't argue with Aiden, though he wanted to know Stella’s condition. He knew that getting something on the bastards would help her the most at that moment.

Stella always treated him like a little brother, something that he missed with his own brother Louie; it had been years since they'd been on good terms. Stella always lent an ear or shoulder, depending on which he needed.

Taking out his flashlight he started processing the alleyway. As he began, he wondered if someone had notified Mac: in the relationship department, their boss and his partner were closer than any two individuals could be without being married. He knew for certain that Mac would want to know about this; Danny didn't feel sure that he'd be able to tell Mac though.

xxx

Jessica and Aiden stepped up to the couple; they seemed visibly shaken by the experience. Dry tear stains marked the woman's face, and the dark-haired man talked to an officer that stood with them. "...Aren’t you done with us yet? Jenni's upset; I'd like to take her back to our hotel."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Sumner, but we need to ask you a few more questions. This is Detective Burn of the NYPD Crime Lab." Jessica did her best to be firm but soothing to the couple.

"Could you tell us exactly what you saw?" Aiden set down her case, opening it. She slid on a pair of latex gloves then reached for a batch of swabs.

"I didn't see anything really. What is she doing?" Miles Sumner demanded.

"Relax, Mr. Sumner, Detective Burn is just doing her job." Obviously the man wasn't into cop shows or watching _Investigative TV_.

Aiden stood up and showed the couple the swabs. "I noticed that Ms. Trenet has some blood on her clothes and hands. I just need to take a sample right now, but we'll need to take the garment as evidence."

"Aah... Sure. Of course; whatever you need to help that poor woman." Jennifer stood still as Aiden took several swabs from different areas of her clothes and hands.

Jessica held back an impatient sigh, "Now did you see anything, Ms. Trenet?"

"Well I'm not sure." The blue-eyed woman bit her lower lip.

"Why don't you start with how you came to be walking down this street?" Aiden suggested, hoping to jar something from the woman and possibly from the man.

"Oh, I can do that." Jennifer brightened a little since she might be able to help in finding the people who had beaten the lady cop. "We had just had a lovely dinner, and I convinced Miles to walk some of the way back to the hotel..."

xxx

_A blonde woman had her arm looped around her equally dark-haired companion. They'd had a fabulous meal; they decided to take a walk around New York at night. Not much time had passed before they found themselves seriously lost. Seeing signs for a subway, they decided to take a subway train back to the location of their hotel. They felt excited, having heard that subways had a way of stimulating sexual tension._

_As they walked, they thought they heard shots, close but not enough to ruin their evening. When they turned a corner, four young individuals pushed them aside._

_The couple almost decided to turn back and get a cab, but the subway entrance stood only a little ways ahead._

_As the blonde woman passed on the inside, closest to the wall, a hand reached out and grabbed her leg. With a scream she tried to pull away, but she soon stopped as the ragged figure came into the light._

_A woman with curly dark hair had blood and bruises covering her face. Her clothes were ripped, leaving the woman almost naked. More blood covered the rest of her._

_The blonde woman shouted at her companion to call 911 as she bent down to help._

_The dark-haired woman opened dull green eyes, gazing at the other woman. She talked through bruised lips, telling them that she was a cop. She relayed to them everything about her assault: how she had fought them, biting one and scratching another, that at least three may have raped her; she didn't know how many exactly. She had lost consciousness until the first bullet had hit her. The green-eyed woman's voice started to fade as if what fight she had left began to drain away. In a raspy voice she pleaded with the woman to promise that they would do a full kit on her. After extracting the promise, she sagged back into the tourist's arms._

_The visiting woman had thought that the bleeding woman had passed out, when she heard the curly-haired lady whisper in a pleading voice to deliver a message to a Mac Taylor of the NYPD Crime Lab._

_"Tell him he's not alone. Everyone at the lab is family, even Don. Tell... tell him to get Connor..."_

xxx

When Ms. Trenet finished, tears once again flowed freely down her cheeks; her boyfriend put a comforting arm around her shoulders.

Aiden swallowed a lump in her throat as she tried to force out a question. Instead of her own voice, she heard Detective Angell ask the couple if anything about the suspects stood out.

"Two were lighter skinned, one looked kind of sallow, and the fourth was very dark but I wouldn't go as far as to call him black. One of the lighter skinned was really thin, lanky like a teenager, the others, I'm not too sure." The blonde woman gave a half shrug.

"Thank you for the information; we have the address of your hotel and that of your home just in case this isn't resolved before the end of your stay in New York. Here's my card just in case you remember anything else."

Aiden walked back to the alley where Danny continued processing. As soon as he caught a glimpse of her face he stopped, walking over to her. "What is it, Aiden?"

Aiden realized at that moment her cheeks were wet and that caused Danny to study her with such a worried expression. She just shook her head, not wanting to go into it with him just yet. "What have you found so far?"

Danny for once didn't push, "With just at a quick glance I found: footprints, blood, a pool of a white sticky substance, and drag marks out to the street. That's just a cursory look around."

"Okay, Danny, call in whatever help you might need here. I'm heading off to the hospital with Detective Angell." She knew that she took control over the investigation but with Danny's recent drop from the promotion grid, she had become in a way equal, if not a little higher, in the ranking. The brown-eyed woman turned, striding back to where the other woman waited.

Danny called after Aiden's retreating back, "Hey Aiden." The brunette investigator turned, looking back at him. "When you find out how Stella's doing... you know... call me."

Aiden gave him a strained smile and nodded before walking away.

xxx

The emergency doors to Roosevelt Hospital slid open and a nurse and orderlies were there to take in information as Stella Bonasera's life changed hands. Don followed, catching the first nurse that entered the emergency room with Stella, "The police will need her clothes and anything else, a full kit..."

Don paced the waiting room, his hands in his pockets. He wanted to be in with Stella. The medics had gotten her stable; he knew that when they arrived at the hospital. He had known that Stella would want herself processed, so he made sure to tell the hospital staff to try not to ruin anything. That if they could, they needed the tatters of Stella's clothing and scrapings, photos - - the works.

Mac marched through the sliding glass doors of Roosevelt Hospital. People seemed to naturally move out of his way. Reaching the receptionist's desk, he held out his badge, "I'm here for Detective Stella Bonasera," He stated it such a way that the young woman behind the counter looked up the information immediately.

"She just checked in twenty-five minutes ago. I think she's still in the emergency room. If you could wait one moment, I'll call and see..."

Not waiting for anything else, the ex-marine strode away towards the emergency waiting room. When he got there he spotted Don Flack immediately; the tall New Yorker stood out from the rest of the people sitting patiently, waiting to hear about a loved one. The blue-eyed detective paced in such a manner Mac thought fleetingly that he would wear a hole in the floor.

"How is she, Don?" Mac's face set in an impassive expression, but his eyes gave him away. Anger and worry showed there.

"I'm not sure. The paramedics had her stable when we got here." Don couldn't find it in him to tell Mac the extent of her injuries. Miraculously a doctor coming out of the emergency room saved him.

"Hello, I'm Doctor Mark Dawnsen. Which one of you is Detective Bonasera's relative?"

Mac stepped forward, "Mac Taylor; I'm not related, but I have her power of attorney."

Continued in Chapter Two: Decisions


End file.
